For many utilities, vegetation is the number-one cause of all unplanned distribution outages. Most damage to electric utility systems during storms is caused by a falling tree or branch that takes power lines out of service. In order to help reduce the frequency of tree damage to utility systems, many utilities implement vegetation management programs as a preventative measure.
Traditionally, vegetation management programs have relied on regular surveying and pruning by arborist teams to help control vegetation around utility systems, but the sheer number of utility lines covering vast distances makes it impractical, in many cases, to send survey teams on the ground. Even so, it is often necessary for field personnel to visit the site in person in order to decide the type of maintenance needed to resolve the encroachment of the vegetation.
In an effort to expedite the process of vegetation management, many utility companies utilize aerial reconnaissance techniques to provide photographic imagery of their utility systems which can be examined for possible vegetation growth issues. Typically, aerial photography, light detection and ranging (LIDAR), synthetic aperture radar, thermal imaging and other types of remote sensing technologies capture digital imagery of real-world scenes for the purpose of extracting three-dimensional point coordinate (spatial geometry) data. These technologies, though cost prohibitive, are widely used in industry to collect the data necessary for map-making, and capture spatial (point coordinate) data in a digital form that allows a wide variety of computer-based tools to be applied to the tasks of map-making, 3D modeling for engineering analysis, vegetation assessment/management, and/or asset management.